“It’s great to see our restaurant entrepreneurs succeed and expand their operations at Helsinki Airport. We are excited about the new fast food restaurant that adds diversity to the restaurant offering after the security control. In addition, it provides more opportunities for a passenger in a hurry to grab a bite or take food away to eat on the flight,” says Finavia Vice President Nora Immonen, Director of Commercial Services at Helsinki Airport.
As the name suggests, Richie’s Gourmet Hot Dogs provides especially tasty and high-quality hot dogs from a wide selection of specialty sausages and condiments. The hot dogs are fairly affordable, however, with prices in line with street food starting from five euros. In addition, it takes only 30 seconds to make a hot dog.
Image: The restaurant’s selection features several different sausages from cheese-filled to spicy ones.
The restaurant’s high-quality street food is part of an international trend.
“Street food is fast, easy and of high quality. Helsinki Airport wants to strongly participate in this trend, too,” continues Immonen.
Sausages served with salad or nachos
Entrepreneur Sandro Riccio describes himself as a sausage dealer. He has run the Richie’s Gourmet Hot Dogs stand in the arrivals hall for almost ten years already. Now, the time was ripe for expanding.
“In our clientele, we noticed a clear demand for expanding at Helsinki Airport. Now that the new restaurant has actually opened, we are delighted to say that it was true. Customers have found us really well right from the start,” says Riccio.
Image: You can watch airplanes from the windows of the new and brightly lit restaurant.
The new restaurant is significantly larger than the express style restaurant in the arrivals hall. The offering is also more varied as, in addition to hot dogs, the restaurant serves sausage platters with salad or nachos, for instance. The plated dishes have already proved to be as popular as hot dogs.
“Our most popular dishes include pulled pork hot dogs and nacho platters that go extremely well with our own beer. Cheesy hot dogs and the ones served with bacon are also customer favourites,” says Riccio.
Richie’s is a pioneer in cutting the use of plastic
The restaurant also wants to be a pioneer in environmental issues. All utensils and dishes are 100% compostable, including plates and coffee cups. The restaurant also serves vegetarian dishes.
According to the entrepreneur, many have developed a tradition of grabbing a hot dog in the arrivals hall after a flight before going home. Now, you can start a similar kind of a tradition when waiting for a flight.
“Nowadays, food isn’t necessarily served on flights so some people get food to go for a flight,” continues Riccio.
Check the opening hours and location of the new restaurant on the map here.
Check the information of the restaurant in the arrivals hall here.
